"Chuck had passionate dreams for the Church and for those whom he served pastorally."

In Memoriam: Fr. Charles F. Burns, SJ

August 6, 2018 — Let us pray in thanksgiving for the life of Father Charles "Chuck" F. Burns, SJ, who was called to eternal life on August 2, 2018. Chuck died at St. Camillus, in Wauwatosa, Wis. He was eighty-one years old, a Jesuit for almost fifty-four years, and a priest for forty-six years.

Born in South Saint Paul, Minn. on October 20, 1936, Chuck attended grade school and high school in Saint Paul and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1959. On September 1, 1964, he entered the Society at Jesuit College in St. Bonifacius, Minn. After first vows and one year of juniorate studies, Chuck did two years of philosophy at St. Louis University and three years of theology at Woodstock College in Woodstock, Md. He was ordained on June 3, 1972, completed tertianship in 1981, and took final vows on October 10, 1982.

From 1972 to 1991 Chuck taught theology and did counseling at Marquette High in Milwaukee. From 1991 through 2004 he did full-time pastoral ministry at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church and St. Luke's Church in Saint Paul. After some years battling health issues while doing pastoral ministry in San Diego, Calif. he moved to the St. Camillus senior Jesuit healthcare community, where he remained until his death.

Chuck was a gifted, dedicated, and very successful pastoral minister. He worked well both with young people and adults. He had passionate dreams for the Church and for those whom he served pastorally.

August 21, 2018 – As we reckon with the Grand Jury report on sexual abuse by priests in Pennsylvania and the failures of bishops to protect the children entrusted to their care, our hearts and prayers—first and foremost—are with the victim-survivors.

January 17, 2019 — Let us pray in thanksgiving for the life of Fr. Eugene F. Merz, SJ, who was called to eternal life on January 16, 2019, around 5:30 a.m. Gene died at Zilber Hospice in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. He was eighty-seven years old, a Jesuit for seventy years, and a priest for fifty-seven years.

January 16, 2019 — It was a homecoming fifty years in the making. In 2016, Fr. Casey Bukala, SJ, moved to the Colombiere Center near Detroit, where elder Jesuits live in community, receive the healthcare they need, and pray for the Church and the Society. It was not Fr. Bukala’s first time at Colombiere, however.

January 9, 2019 — Let us pray in thanksgiving for the life of Fr. John “Jack” R. Crocker, SJ, who died on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, at Colombiere Center in Clarkston, Michigan. He was 88 years old. May he rest in peace.